Convertible flush and surface mountable panel board box



Sept. 30, 1952 T. M. COLE 2,612,283

CONVERTIBLE FLUSH AND SURFACE MOUNTABLE PANEL BOARD Box Filed oct. 7, 1949 -f INVENToR.

T90/W5 f1' COLE BY ENQ M L Patented Sept. 30, 1952 @enterrement-seisdi.194s, yseam Naarmate# eeiforf examp1e Bue.withmimiimtauofntseltenes,-...,

circuiltbreakers;ituseiblockspetci l Theivprimaryzobjecteiof 'ztheepresent'finvention a:

of @ai .panelbbardr box-ewhichriisi is the provision felates'fffto paiiembardrf':

well fadaptedzstoab'eausediin:amishmeuntingzfand-f. 1. whieharbyf the: provision: of. a. simple:and"- unitary ff..-

auxiliary..

surfademountingsthereofs 1 Anotheriobject of the inventio'nzis tolvpr" v deviceccani belzeasny 'fconvertedetoza vf. Danelboardfboxl.Which'ris: "zwellfr -adaptedizvforrf the struetiom'oi.` the". boxw .fasfto obv-iat'ei; 'the k'need fori separate.fasteningY means. forif.operatively;k fasse#- ciating. said; auxiliary device `withfsaidf box-:

MoreA particularlyg; ,pursuantK to '-the objectsu of the present` invention, the# box and sthe auxiliarfyf'I devi'cerf tarie. so constructed: in t relationwtofeeach other and' f the' :auxiliary device-l is of isuchco'n-w Fig. 2 isz-a side elevation view-roi the boxtinfaflfsignal rsa-side viewf of. .thetboxem a sir mounted position;

Fig. fi is a fragmentary perspective view of a part ofthe'box;

Fig. 51s a front view of the box; and

Fig. 6 is' a sectional view on the line -6-8 of Figi 3| In accordance with the present invention the panelboard box I0 is preferably made of sheet steel as usual, and is ordinarily rectangular in shape. It is to be understood, however, that it is within the scope of the present invention to make a panelboard box of any suitable size and shape. Panelboard box I0 has a back Wall I2, side walls I4 and I6, and end walls I8 and 20.

The panelboard box has a front opening 2I for access to the electrical devices mounted within it. Said box isv also provided with a front member hereinafter described, which may be a trim member for `the front of the box and which may also of theA boxa'rfdfhasfann-opening 28 foraccess'gtof the. panelboard- Tor otherfelectrical-4 devices l (not shown.) vwhchv arefmounted. in the.- -box,.as -vv-il be readily'V understood.. Asfhereshownf a-vswing is R179- vided for said access opening 28, butit will be?- understood that@ said; door may. :beomit-tegi..vs/henk the box isf-used.' for. certain Atypesi of I p anelbo'ardsl It -Willf be'.I noted thatv thegperipheraledge 32 member 26 is' positionedtlaterally voutwardly provi-uefa. trim p'ortof arounutnepaiieibar in the box, ais iii "the"usalparelb'ordbox; 'a`s""` will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates. Member 26 is removably secured to the box preferably by screws 34 which pass through holes 35 and engage tapped members 36 (Fig. 4) Welded or other- Wise secured to the inner surface of rim 22. It will be understood that the box may be provided with openings or conventional knock-outs l(not illustrated) for the passage of the electric Wiring to and from the box.

A frame member 38 is provided for use on box I0 when the latter is to be employed in a surface mounting as illustrated, for example, by Fig. 3. Said frame member desirably lls recess 23 which would otherwise exist when the box is surface mounted. The frame 38 is formed in one piece and is preferably of such size that its inner edge 4I lies close to the outer surface of rim 22 and its outer edge 42 is ush with walls I4, IB, I8 and 20 of the box.

The removable intermediate frame 38 is constructed preferably of one piece of sheet metal of channel cross section, notched at intervals as indicated at 50 and bent to form an endless frame provided with an internal groove 40.'V The adjacent ends of the intermediate frame 38 are suitably secured together, for example, by means of splice plate 4B placed in the internal groove at the point where the adjacent ends meet, and spot welded to the frame as indicated at 44 and 48. Said frame interts with the inwardly offset peripheral wall portion 22 forming a ller piece,

for the recess made by the peripherallyfextending shoulders 24, and the inwardly offset peripheral wall portion 22. The intermediate frame 38 need not be secured to the panelboard by screws or other fastening devices but is held in place automatically whenthe trim member is secured to the box.

nibs orsmall projections 54 are pressed out-` wardly from the rim 22 in position to engage said frameas shown in Fig. 6. As indicated in Fig. 1, each side of rim 22 is provided with one of said nibs. It will be understood that while said nibs or projections serve to hold the frame member 38 in place so as to prevent accidental displacement of the frame member when the cover or trim member 26 is removed, said frame-member can be easily removed or placed in position by the application of a small'force thereto to clear` said nibs. l v

The box I0 may be provided with any suitable means for securing the box in position. For example, holes 52 may be provided in the back wall of the boxfor fastening screws or other elements.V Also, it will be understood that the box vmay be providedV with knock-outs (not electrical deviceswhich may be disposed within wall, frame 38 is not utilized and the 'box has a peripheralrecess to receive the plaster or other wall facing material. When, as shown in Fig., 3,

the box is surface mounted, the frame member Thetrim member is secured to the panelboard box preferably by means of the 4 38 is disposed in the recess around rim 22 and is held in position automatically by the securement of cover 26 to the box, thus obviating the need for any other fastening means and facilitating the assembly of said frame member on the box.

It is to be understoodpthatvarious changes in the detail of constructin and modifications may be made without departing from the underlying idea of the present invention, within the scope of the appended claims.

y vHaving thus Adescribed my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In a panel box,v the combination comprising a cabinet havinga front opening, a peripheral side wall having an inwardly extending shoulder provided with an offset peripheral wall portion deiiningA said' front opening, a removable one-piece unitary frame interfitting with said offset wall portion aroundgf the latter externally thereof, said frame being U-shaped in cross section. one` leg of said U-shaped frame being in abutment with said shoulder and the base of 'said U constituting a continuousperipheral wall iiush with the 4outer surfaceof said side wall rear-` wardly offsaid shoulder,.a trim member for the front of said cabinet, securing elements provided f on theinner surface of said offset wall portion.

releasable'securing members interengaging said trim-member and said securingelements for re-A r movably securing said trim memberto said oiset one leg of said frame for holding said frame in place when said trim member is removed.

2.- The combination defined in claim 1, further characterized in that said offset peripheral wall portion is in the form of a rectangle, saidf se curingelements being provided on opposing sides of said .rectangle and said projections being pro? vided on all sides of said rectangle.v y

v v THOMASM. COLE.

REFERNCS CITED The following references are of record in theAl le of this patent:

VUNITED STATES PATENTS Date Number Name I Y 2 1,219,864 Platt Mar. 20, 1917 2,422,553

Johansson et al. June 17, 1947 

